The Alexandria girls basketball team had its home opener on Thursday night as the Cardinals hosted a Section 8-3A opponent and got a second straight convincing win in a 66-45 final over Sauk Rapids-Rice.

The Storm, 4-14 last season and off to a 0-2 start this year, fell behind 10-0 right off the bat as Alexandria (2-0) built a 29-19 lead by the break.

“In the second half, we found more of a rhythm on offense and had some beautiful ball movement that led to some big 3-point shots and transition points,” Alexandria head coach Wendy Kohler said.

The Cardinals are all about their depth this year as Kohler can play 10 players or more. Senior guard Tessa McGrane led all scorers with 19, while freshman forward Hadley Thul was close behind her with 18. Freshmen Allie Haabala and Chloe Scholl each added 8 on a night when eight players scored in all for Alexandria.

“Ella Stuessy, Lillian Thul and Ella Sayre also played valuable minutes to help energize the team in multiple phases of the game,” Kohler said.

The Cardinals now head into likely their toughest test of the early season as they go to Hopkins High School for the Tip-Off Challenge on Saturday. Alexandria plays Hill-Murray at 10:30 a.m. The Pioneers were 20-2 a year ago.

ALEXANDRIA 66, SAUK RAPIDS-RICE 45

ALEXANDRIA SCORING - Tessa McGrane - 19; Hadley Thul - 18; Allie Haabala - 8; Chloe Scholl - 8; Kaia Emter - 5; Elle Heydt - 4; MaCee Linow - 2; Kate Hennesey - 2

Scores from Thursday, Dec. 2

Minnewaska (1-1) 44, Eden Valley-Watkins (1-1) 36